We hope that a browse around the AREA website can help to educate and inform people. Start with our glossary!  We have a wide range of use cases and webinars that aim to increase the understanding of those in enterprise of how AR can help solve business problems.

Findings included:

Consumers are still confused by the differences between AR and VR.

• Almost all feel AR isn’t relevant to their lives
• Most feel AR is meant to provide a way to try something, such as a product or experience
• Brands expected to adopt AR include Google, Microsoft, Lowe’s, Home Depot, Amazon and Nike
• Many would be interested in augmented reality tools relating to shopping and retail
• Most became aware of AR through gaming

The full article can be read here:

At the beginning of 2017, Scandit’s aim was mainly focused on providing technology to enterprises to leverage standard smartphones with custom software on top instead of businesses having to use expensive proprietary scanning hardware.

To help streamline warehouses, Scandit have used wearable displays such as Microsoft HoloLens. One example posted on their blog in 2016 described how a warehouse employee using a HoloLens headset could be steered towards the correct objects with virtual markers, and the camera could be utilised for a hands-free experience. The blog is also quoted to have explained that HoloLens can direct users to where items should be placed once scanned and provide additional information about them.

The latest round of funding will contribute towards Scandit’s global growth and also introducing its technology across a range of mobile platforms and “camera-equipped device[s]” as quoted from a press release.

Samuel Mueller, CEO, is quoted to have said that the raise will allow the company to maintain their rapid growth as well as increase adoption of Augmented Reality and mobile computer vision in the enterprise, leading to reductions in cost.

These disruptive technologies from enhanced artificial intelligence accessibility, to the rise of augmented and virtual reality, contribute massively to game-changing ideas that are ready to bring a ground-breaking change in the way business enterprises function. This year, we will see these trendy technologies dictate how business function and what new products and services will be offered to the customers in the near future.

On the list are:

1. Citizen AI: Artificial Intelligence to Welfare Business & society
2. Augmented Reality
3. The Internet of Things
4. Cloud Technology
5. Cyber security
6. Machine learning
7. Voice-controlled chatbots
8. Blockchain

In the past, they were generally seen as either science fiction concepts that could never be real or as technology restricted to the world of video games. Nowadays, there is an increasing understanding that they have a practical use beyond storytelling and games. Businesses ranging from health to oil and gas are integrating VR and AR into their work processes.

VR is discussed before moving onto AR which does not create an “alternate” reality but uses a display to augment and overlay information and/or images on the world. AR does not rely on the user wearing a special device to see an illusion. These technologies lend themselves well to improving people’s safety. For example, AR technology keeps workers safe by recognizing when a tool is being misused and projecting instructions for proper tool handling from a user’s point of view. Cars may in the future recognize incoming dangerous obstacles by sending information to the driver via projections and graphics that are highlighted on the obstacle on the windshield. Physicians can use AR technology to be alerted to issues during surgeries.

Companies see potential in using VR and AR as a way to preview what a project or location will look like once construction is complete. The architecture company AECOM uses the Microsoft HoloLens to add 3D images of buildings on top of maps to get a better understanding of the layout of large projects. Their code allows people to see projected construction over time plus the environmental and social conditions that will surround the project.

Kalloc Studios developed the software known as Fuzor to create virtual locations so potential investors can preview the locations before they pay the construction companies to start work on the new buildings. There are many other applications that one can imagine for this type of technology. For example, VR may allow a customer to walk into a retail furniture store with a virtual model of the type of room they want to furnish and see how the furniture works in that environment.

VR is also being utilized to treat mental health problems such as paranoia and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Virtually Better sells VR software to treat people with phobias, addictions, and PTSD and provides VR training to health providers. There are firms that use VR to treat chronic pain and dementia. VR and AR are playing a role in treating diseases, and they will help create the next generation of doctors as well.

VR technology is useful for training purposes since they can train many people in different locations at the same time. Shafi Ahmed, the co-founder of Virtual Medics and Medical Realities, used VR to live-stream a cancer surgery in 360 degrees to many doctors at once. This allowed doctors to see exactly what the surgeon was seeing and have the opportunity to look around the room.

VR technology can revolutionize how factory workers are trained. For example, new hires could be given a VR helmet on their first day to receive instructions and virtual practice before performing tasks. This allows people to practice in a controlled environment before working on the factory floor. AR goggles can introduce advanced methods as the worker gets more experienced and overlays instructions and reminders when they are needed.

Maintenance is another opportunity.  VR and AR also have great promise in the world of maintenance. VR conferencing technologies such as those built by Virtalis as mentioned above can be used to allow repairmen to get in touch with each other using 360-degree cameras to better troubleshoot a problem. AR technology can provide information as to how to fix a broken part or tool. This is not science fiction. For example, oil and gas companies are already using both VR and AR to help workers better track the status of their energy platforms and their tools. This way, they can use the helmet and goggles to better track the status of all their tools.

The real world will look different as VR becomes more normal and AR augments the world. Realtors already use VR to showcase their houses and will inevitably use AR to display furniture within houses and apartments. Luxury car companies are talking about using VR technology to have people take “virtual” rides within their vehicles; eventually, we may see more bus drivers use AR to highlight changes in traffic.

The science fiction Netflix series Altered Carbon shows how ordinary surgeons may start to use AR glasses to create personal control panels, another character uses AR glasses to “see” what another character is seeing, and a third character uses AR technology to monitor Internet of Things (IoT) sensor data. This is not the future; this technology is already possible.

While the surgeon’s display may not be consumer-ready yet, he is wearing Recon Jet Pro smart glasses you can buy on Amazon right now. The Skylight AR platform already allows AR goggle users to see what other people are seeing. General Electric is using AR technology to help its workers “see” IoT data to help them work more quickly. Altered Carbon may take place centuries into the future, but it is drawing its ideas from existing technology.

VR and AR are still nascent technologies held back by bulk and expense in the case of VR and lack of understanding in the case of AR; over time we will see the two technologies become more common. What we see now are people recognizing the power of VR and AR, and if you think the technologies are exciting wait until more people have the chance to see what it can do.

While VR never panned out as the major marketing boon that it was touted to be two years ago, AR is trending strong in nearly all industries.

Much of its AR’s marketing prominence was derived from the Pokemon Go craze that swept the world in 2016, amassing more than 650 million downloads in its first week.

Since then, AR has continued bolstering innovative marketing efforts across a myriad of niches. One of the more successful examples came from Ikea; the brand developed an AR app that enabled shoppers to place furniture in their home before committing to a purchase. Additionally, makeup brand L’Oréal also launched an augmented reality appfor its product lines.

Both examples mark an important trend in innovative marketing as this type of “phy-gital” merger provides a deeply engaging experience for consumers. The personal intimacy in which people use such applications naturally helps to create brand advocates and strong word-of-mouth marketing.

In case you’re not convinced of this trend, consider the fact that Apple has doubled-down on augmented reality with its AR-capable iPhone X and its yet-to-be-released AR headset.

As this type of tech continues to leak into the mainstream, enterprises should be gearing up to create branded content for the medium.

The term AR has several definition gradations, but it essentially combines data from the physical world to the one that was created with digital tools. The user, therefore, sees reality being supplanted with computer-generated information. This new technology, called augmented reality, blurs the line between what’s real and what’s computer-generated by enhancing what we see, hear, feel, and smell.

Augmented Reality often gets confused with Virtual Reality (VR). However, while VR involves the user wearing a helmet or goggles to immerse themselves within an entire virtual world, AR incorporates elements of the real world along with the virtual world. One major problem with VR is that it takes the user to a desolate space. This is where AR works its magic by showcasing a composite view. AR can be achieved merely with the use of a smartphone which displays elements of the virtual world, making the technology accessible to a broader range of people.

AR will merely revolutionize the structure of commerce. Furthermore, AR will take over the lion’s share of the market totalling over $120 billion by the year 2020.

Augmented Reality enables consumers to experience what they would in a brick-and-mortar store, all from the comfort of their home. While consumers have perused and purchased goods from their smartphones, the process of having to enter credit card information before purchase often led them to abandon their shopping. With the integration of Augmented Reality in the shopping process, consumers can try the product at home via their mobile devices and in the process spend a more significant amount of time interacting with the product.

The higher level of engagement that Augmented Reality endears results in consumers being more invested in the product, with a sunk cost fallacy concerning time coming into play. Augmented Reality can eliminate guesswork or uncertainty that often comes into play when one purchases products online.

AR still being a relatively new technology, provides customers with a feeling of being on the cutting edge with experiences giving products and services in retail a sizeable advantage over their competitors. The buzz and word of mouth virality that is generated by experiences using AR help acquire more customers.

The use of geo-technology can be integrated with AR to incentivize people for coming to specific locations and availing rewards. AR helps provide retailers with the ability to add a layer of gamification and social engineering atop the shopping experience, making it more immersive and interactive. A significant drawback of this in AR is that refining this technology requires a developer team pushing out constant updates which can tentatively lead to consumers ditching the app if it doesn’t fulfil their needs at the moment.

As opposed to a one-size-fits-all approach, AR provides endless customization for mobile commerce. From choosing the right size of clothing to running promotional campaigns via Android or iOS applications, AR does it all. The role of Augmented Reality, however, is not limited to any one industry. The use of this technology also applies to industries such as manufacturing, education & training, travel & tourism.

As we see today, customers are becoming more demanding and sophisticated with the growth of the production market. Fortunately, AR can assist retailers and businesses with a compelling solution to this demand. Coupling AR with marketing strategies could help early adopters of the technology provide an unparalleled immersive experience for customers and help give retailers an edge over their competitors. This seems to be an excellent time for businesses to have a full AR strategy to make sure they don’t fail to keep up with the commerce revolution

The points covered are as follows:

Enterprises using augmented reality (AR) have improved their efficiency, but the industry is still new and has many teething problems, which is where AR for Enterprise Alliance (AREA) wants to step in and help.

Mark Sage, executive director at The AREA (pictured), said AR can reduce resource costs, minimise human error and increase efficiency.

However, it is still a young industry, with companies often finding it hard to find potential customers. Plus, businesses don’t always understand how AR can help them as there are not enough real-world use cases.

This does not mean there aren’t any use cases, though. Sage said operator KPN reduced overall costs for service teams 11 per cent by using AR smart glasses, while Boeing found the time taken to train new staff was cut by 35 per cent using AR rather than traditional 2D drawings.

The challenge for businesses is they are often unable to find the right information, lack confidence in implementing new technology and don’t have insight to support return on investment (RoI) decisions.

To this end, the Alliance offers a tool which defines and answers common questions about how to measure RoI for enterprise AR projects.

The AREA  also wants to provide a deep and open exchange of best practice, lessons learned and technology insights. It is looking to close the AR skills gap by working with universities.

Another of its aims is to reduce barriers to AR adoption by organising committees to focus on issues including research, security, safety and developing a standardised set of requirements.

Sage noted collaboration is key, as no single company can provide end-to-end AR solutions

The AREA states it is the only global non-profit, member-based organisation dedicated to widespread adoption of interoperable AR-enabled enterprise systems.

The order includes XMReality Remote Guidance software to expand the use in several business areas within the defense company group.

“I’m pleased our order intake outside of Europe is growing and that our new generation of software has a strong demand in many different industries. Defense company groups are managing implementation projects thoroughly and for each follow up order we are getting closer to a roll-out within this company group”, says Johan Castevall, CEO at XMReality.

The order includes XMReality Generation 6 software, the value is approx. 0,6 MSEK which will be recognized during 2018. Including this order, the total order intake from this customer for the previous 12 months amounts to approx. 1,2 MSEK.

“Our first AR/VR standard represents an important step in addressing key emerging technology areas,” said Brian Markwalter, senior vice president of research and standards, CTA talking about the inclusion of the AR/VR standards: “The industry created this standard to build upon definitions created by CTA’s AR/VR Working Group that provide consumers insight on the broad range of technologies and experiences available. With this standard, the industry has created a blueprint to more effectively support AR/VR technologies and bring them to a broader market.”

Scope AR, known for their work on an industry AR platform for real-time remote assistance and AR guided smart instructions, have been actively involved in pushing the limitations of the technology further. Montgomerie, commented on the CTA standards saying: “While the enterprise is currently where the use cases and initial revenue are coming from, it will be advances in consumer hardware that have the economies of scale to pay for the innovation.

“However, there is still a lot of confusion among everyday consumers when it comes to understanding the differences between ‘mixed reality’ vs. ‘merged reality’ vs. ‘augmented reality’ vs. ‘virtual reality,’ not to mention the various capabilities of different HMDs.” Montgomerie explains: “This is why we 100% applaud the CTA for taking a stance and offering to standardize such terms, since eliminating this confusion in the industry can only help drive adoption from consumers and enterprises alike. It’s a big step forward for the industry overall and a sign of its growth and maturity.”

Back in June of this year Montgomerie talked about Apple’s ARKit 2.0 commenting on how the advancements in the platform and technology were steps in the right direction helping to move the industry towards the dream of delivering the full potential that AR has to offer.

The CTA free standard library is available online for free and will continue to grow to provide further support and transparency for users on the rapidly growing technologies that it covers. This year’s CTA Sales and Forecasts reported that VR has become a $1 billion (USD) sector within the U.S alone with a projected 4.9 million units to be sold within 2018.

With AR spending expected to hit an estimated $60 billion in 2020, organizations across industries are seeing the value in implementing more interactive technology. Showpad is the first and only sales enablement provider to offer AR functionality, enabling salespeople to deliver more immersive buyer experiences. Using Augmented Reality, sellers can transform how buyers learn about their product portfolio by projecting virtual products within the context of their actual environment.

Our Augmented Reality functionality delivers the buyer experience of the future – it’s visual, interactive and immersive,” says Pieterjan Bouten, CEO and co-founder of Showpad. “We’re empowering salespeople to not only tell buyers about their products, but also to virtually engage with them for a deeper level of understanding. We’re excited to be the first to deliver this functionality to the sales enablement industry and support our customers as they compete in the digital world.”

Showpad will use Apple’s ARKit in the Showpad iOS app, allowing users to project 3D models in a real, physical environment. The Showpad iOS app enables sales teams to demonstrate the actual dimensions and features of products within the context of their environment, anywhere and anytime. Marketers reduce cost and time managing content by centralizing and managing models all within the app.

“We wanted to help our customers with large complex physical products not only tell prospects about their solutions through great digital content, but be able to show them through a truly immersive buying experience,” adds Louis Jonckheere, CPO and co-founder of Showpad. “Buyers want greater context and more information in their purchase experience, and AR enables them to see exactly what they’re getting. Now, they can have deeper, more interesting conversations about even the most complex products by seeing them in the context of their own environment.”